Kentucky Basketball: The History of the “Y”

The “Y”. A tradition at Kentucky where former players, stars, and special people grace the crowd at Rupp Arena and join the cheerleaders to help spell out KENTUCKY. Placing their hands over their heads, they become the sole Y needed to finish the cheer.

I don’t know how long it has been going on, but its at least the last 8 years from what I can tell. Last night during the Kentucky thrashing of Tennessee, Randall Cobb put the Y in KENTUCKY.

Here’s a incomprehensive list of the Y’s I could find…

Randall Cobb  – Former Kentucky Football Star and NFL Wide Receiver – 1/31/2012 (Tennessee)

Ashley Judd – Actress – 1/21/2012 (Alabama)

Joe B Hall – Former Kentucky Basketball Coach – 1/7/2012 (South Carolina)

Dakota Meyer – Medal of Honor Winner – 12/31/2011 (Louisville)

Demarcus Cousins – Former Kentucky Player, current Sacramento King 12/3/2011 (North Carolina)

Tayshaun Prince – Former Kentucky Player, current Detroit Piston – 12/1/2011 (St Johns)

Matt Roark  – Kentucky Wide Receiver/QB – 11/26/2011 (Portland)

Patrick Patterson – Former Kentucky Basketball Star and Houston Rocket – 11/11/11 (Marist)

John Wall – Former Kentucky Basketball Star and #1 NBA draft pick –  2/8/2011 (Tennessee)

Magic Johnson – NBA Hall of Famer – 2/25/2010 (vs South Carolina)

Lebron James – Future NBA Hall of Famer – 1/30/2010 (Vanderbilt)

Ashley Judd – Actress with broken leg and a cast-  3/7/2004 (Florida)

Ok, so these are all the ones I could think of and most of my favorites – who is your favorite? Find an image of someone not listed, link it in the comments and I’ll update the post with the best!